Q: In college, my husband married a young woman in a non-Catholic Church.
After he discovered her infidelity, they divorced. Ten years later when we were
planning to marry, we were told that he had to get an annulment, but to do that
his ex-wife would have to sign a document giving him "permission" to remarry.

I couldn't expect him to track down this woman and ask her to sign
such a document. So we married in a Protestant Church in 1987.

Now we would like to have our marriage blessed by the Catholic Church.
Does he have to have an annulment for this to happen? If so, where do you start?

A: The person who did not initiate an annulment case
is called the "respondent" and must be informed that a case has begun. The respondent
must be given an opportunity to give testimony. That person, however, does not
control the outcome of the case and is never asked to sign a form giving "permission"
to remarry. I am sorry that someone gave you incorrect information on that subject.

A "declaration of nullity" decree is issued,
usually by three judges, on the basis of documents and testimony, with legal
representation for both ex-spouses.

In the September 1998 article
"Understanding
Annulments," Father John Catoir, J.C.D.,answers
four very common questions about annulments. Sister Victoria
Vondenberger, R.S.M., J.C.L., head of the tribunal office
for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, wrote a sidebar entitled
"What About the Rights of the Respondent?" Tribunals require
that a good-faith effort be made to find the respondent.

Annulment cases begin at the local parish level. Someone on the parish
staff collects the documents and testimony needed. Some dioceses have trained
deacons, members of religious communities or laypeople to help prepare tribunal
cases.

Far from being a disagreeable, traumatizing
reliving of the past, the annulment process has helped many people reach "closure"
on an invalid, non-sacramental marriage and prepare for a more Christ-centered
second marriage.

Q: I am having a crisis of
faith because clerical pedophilia cases in
the United States have been covered up. Why shouldnt
I seek out another Church?

A: Yes, these sexual predators have caused terrible harm to young children,
to their families, to parishioners and to the Church at large. And yes, many
people's confidence in the integrity and competence of Catholic leaders has
been severely damaged.

Human beings sin. Period. That does not in any way excuse what has
happened in these cases. It was abuseplain and simple. And for those cases
brought to civil trial, no matter how those trials end (whether you think justice
was done or justice was denied), the guilty parties must still face God's judgment
on their actions.

But if human beings sin, what guarantee exists that this sin or some
other terrible sin will not arise among the members of whatever group you may
join after leaving the Catholic Church?

We believe in Jesus Christ, the Scriptures, the sacraments and that
Jesus protects the Church from major and permanent error. This does not eliminate
the possibility of scandal. The Church has experienced some pretty bad scandals
over the centuries.

At one time, many doctors and other medical professionals thought
that pedophilia could be cured. Few professionals say that now.

Some decisions by Catholic leaders were based on that earlier, erroneous information.
Other decisions were simply a refusal to admit the seriousness
of what was happening, a refusal to admit that there was
a clear pattern of deviant behavior that needed to be confronted
effectively. The rights of victims should have been the
Church's primary concern but all too often were not.

Other religious or secular organizations are dealing with the same
issue. None of this will undo the living nightmare that victims have already
experienced. None of this will take them back to their pre-abuse innocence.
We all know that.

All Catholicsespecially leadersneed to be vigilant in this matter.
Even when an accusation proves to be groundless (for example, the one against
Cardinal Joseph L. Bernardin), all such accusations need to be taken very seriously.

Catholic bishops in the United States have been addressing
cases of clerical pedophilia more effectively in the last
15 years. In 1993 they formed an Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual
Abuse; it developed three volumes of resource materials
under the heading "Restoring Trust." Last February 19, Bishop
Wilton D. Gregory, president of the United States Conference
of Catholic Bishops, issued a statement entitled "Sexual
Abuse of Minors by Priests." There is a special
feature on this site that goes into this topic in greater
depth.

May all members of the Church treat pedophilia (by clerics or anyone
else) with the seriousness that it requires.

Q: I realize that people can confess their sins and can believe that
God has forgiven them. But what if I confess a sin, yet cannot forgive myself
for it? Should I be concerned only with God's forgiveness? Is self-forgiveness
important?

A: People sometimes build themselves up by thinking that their sin exceeds
God's power to forgive it. If they truly believe that God has forgiven them,
then isn't it a form of blasphemy not to forgive oneself for a sin already forgiven
by God?

Not forgiving myself for some sin already confessed and forgiven
may be a way of placing my life "on hold," of saying that my past must dominate
my present and future.

Forgiving myself for a sin already confessed does not mean totally
forgetting that sin. If I link forgiving and forgetting, I may refuse to do
the one because I humanly cannot do the other.

Q: What is adoration of the Blessed Sacrament all about? How can praying
in an adoration chapel help me grow in my faith, in my relationship with Jesus?
I'm interested in doing this but I do not know what to expect.

A: Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is the most solitude that some
people ever have. Here they can read the Scriptures, speak to God in their own
words or listen to their heart in a unique way.

People can, of course, do all of this without being in the presence
of the Blessed Sacrament. Making a commitment for eucharistic adoration, however,
may be the best way some people can pay better attention to their spiritual
lifeto ask whether it's growing or slipping. People can ask these questions
without praying in front of the Blessed Sacrament. Doing so there, however,
may encourage more honest answers and a greater readiness to be Jesus' disciples
in all circumstances of life.

Vatican II's DogmaticConstitution on the Church describes
the Eucharist as the "source and summit of the Christian life" (#11). Eucharistic
adoration is one way of recognizing that and cooperating with the grace of this
sacrament.

Q: I know from Church history that we date ourselves
to Jesus' time and that St. Peter took over after Jesus
ascended into heaven. I also know that the word catholic
means universal. When exactly did members of this
Church begin calling themselves Catholic?

A: The Greek word katholikos indeed means universal; originally,
it had no specific association with religion. We still speak of someone who
appreciates many artistic styles or genres as having a catholic taste in art.
The same would be true of music or any other area influenced by personal preference.

The first documented religious use of this term appears in a letter
by St. Ignatius of Antioch (martyred 107 A.D.) to the Smyrneans (residents of
a city in modern-day Turkey). Christians were catholic in the sense of
being everywhere, at all levels of society and for all time.

For the first 1,000 years after the death of Jesus, the terms Christian
and Catholic described the same group of people. The Nicene Creed proclaims,
"I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church."

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